Javascript

Google Chrome for iOS was released today, so we naturally put it up against the default browser, Safari. We conducted some basic tests, such as load times (which revealed a slight lead for Chrome in two tests), JavaScript (where Safari had a significant lead), HTML5, and CSS (roughly equivalent).

Skype has stated they are aware of a serious cross-site scripting vulnerability within the chat feature for Skype on the iPhone. The security hole could allow for malicious JavaScript code to access to your address book and is known to affect versions 3.0.1 and below.

Skype reached out to TechCrunch to say they're hard at work on getting an update pushed to the App Store.

We are working hard to fix this reported issue in our next planned release which we hope to roll out imminently. In the meantime we always recommend people exercise caution in only accepting friend requests from people they know and practice common sense internet security as always.

The funny thing is, Skype has known about the issue for a while now. AppSec Consulting security researcher Phil Purviance helped discover the problem and let Skype know about it almost a month ago. Skype responded saying they would release an update earlier this month, but we're nearing the end of September and there's no update to be found.

Here's hoping Skype gets on this quick and pushes out an update soon, but in the meantime check out the video below detailing how the vulnerability works.

As we posted the other day, while Safari in iOS 4.3 got a huge speed boost thanks to the Nitro JavaScript engine, asynchronous mode, and HTML 5 caching, bookmarking a site to the Home Screen (Web Clips) that launch in full-screen mode, or browsing inside an app (UIWebView) didn't. That meant, while web apps on the home screen and web pages embedded in apps were as fast as they were in iOS 4.2, they weren't as fast as Safari in iOS 4.3.

The technical reason for this is because Nitro is using Just-in-Time (JIT) compilation. Daring Fireball says:

CNET UK was able to take the iPad 2 running iOS 4.3 out for a test drive and the results are hypercar impressive -- 2097ms. iOS 4.3 and its new Safari Nitro engine gets a lot of the credit -- it blows iPhone 4 and the original iPad past the likes of the Nexus S and Galaxy Tab as well (they've been unable to test a Xoom as of yet), but that Apple A5 is enough to power iPad 2 to very top.

During Apple's iPad 2 announcement yesterday Scott Forstall announced that Mobile Safari was getting a 2x performance boost, in part by porting over Mac OX's Nitro JavaScript engine.

As you surf the web, your fingers will love the responsiveness of the new Nitro JavaScript engine powering Safari. It runs JavaScript up to twice as fast as in iOS 4.2.2 Which means you get more speed behind each page load. And sites with lots of interactive features can appear on your screen even faster.

Which has the fastest browser, Apple's iOS 4 or Google's Android 2.2? We're used to browser battles here on TiPb, but how about a browser battle battle? See, both Ars Technica and Engadget ran some tests, pitting iPhone 4 on iOS 4 against the Nexus One running Android 2.2 Froyo and the results... varied dramatically to say the least.

Ars SunSpider and V8 benchmarks showed the Nexus One blowing iPhone 4 out of the water with almost double the JavaScript performance. Engadget's real-world test loading real-world webpages, however, had iPhone 4 with a slight lead when Flash was enabled on the Nexus One, and slightly behind when Flash was disabled.

Done21.com has discovered something interesting in the online iPad user-guide: a new JavaScript framework they've dubbed AdLib (after its filename) that allows for very native app look and feel in the decidedly web-based app.

AppleInsider notes that it appears to be related to the PastryKit framework used for the iPhone user-guide (which stands to reason), and the TuneKit framework used for iTunes LP and iTunes Extra. And that the name may tie-in to the iAd rumors, and to internal efforts on Apple's part to raise the bar of web apps and diminish the need for plugins like Flash and Java.

If you're browsing the web on a PC, you can just hit CTRL-F or CMD-F and quickly find any text on a webpage. It's great for finding things fast, especially on long reams of text, and Safari does a nice job of it -- just not Mobile Safari on the iPhone, not yet.